


A cup of tea is a cup of peace - Mycroft Holmes

by i_am_mycroft_holmes



Series: Time for tea (BBC Sherlock) [1]
Category: I'm making a tea fandom, Is there a tea fandom?, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: It's only hinted at Mystrade, Lots of Tea, Mycroft-centric, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 12:00:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3895543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_mycroft_holmes/pseuds/i_am_mycroft_holmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mycroft recounts some of the teas he has had whilst on business/negotiations in various places. And all of them went successfully and each tea was a cup of peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A cup of tea is a cup of peace - Mycroft Holmes

 

> "Tea is a divine herb" - Xu Guangqi (never a truer word has been said in my opinion)

Tea, Mycroft mused. There was a tea for every occasion, and that made the drink all the more appealing to him. Of course, his personal favourite was the gently smoked Earl Grey from Fortnum’s and Mason’s, but there were so many varieties, and he was certain he’d tried most, if not all of them.

The aptly named breakfast tea, with a blend of Assam, Ceylon and Kenya, he found the robust and full-bodied taste most suited to toast or a full-English. Of course, on his diet, he rarely had a full-English breakfast, but he satisfied his craving for slightly unhealthy food in the morning by adding both sugar and milk to his tea, and of course, butter and jam (preferably strawberry) to his toast. Breakfast tea was one of the best teas to start the day with, and Mycroft, without fail, had a cup before he left the house in the morning.

Mycroft generally enjoys several cups of Earl Grey throughout the day, courtesy of Anthea making tea. She did it perfectly for him. 4 ½ minutes steeping in the teapot, a small amount of milk (added after the tea of course) and a teaspoon of sugar. He couldn’t shift his sweet tooth, and often found that a small cake; or scone went well with it. Naturally, he’d discovered that under Anthea’s insistence that he had to eat and he’d chosen something he loved. Earl Grey was the perfect match for his busy schedule, with its slightly floral and citrus notes, but in the main with enough caffeine to keep him functioning until the late hours of the night.

He’d also been introduced to London Fog recently, for a slightly creamier version of Earl Grey, with just a hint of vanilla. It was the perfect thing for a cold, rainy night. The warm milk, vanilla and the concentrated tea worked as a relaxing version of his favourite tea. Apparently, it reminded Gregory of a latte or something close to that – Mycroft had very little respect for coffee, it lacked the depth of flavour and characteristics he loved in tea.

He’d recently had Insam cha whilst negotiating with North Korea about the elections (can’t say too much about the business side of things I’m afraid). It was a refreshingly different kind of tea; made from ginseng which leant an odd earthy sweet flavour to the tea, although it did have a rather powerful aftertaste, a lingering bitterness which he found unappealing, usually having sugar in his tea.

A tea which was more to his taste was served in Turkey, although that may be due to the minimal, _if I may say so myself_ – non-existent, language barriers between the people and him. The tea, was very imaginatively named çay, and served black, in the most exquisite glass cups. He had brought some back with him from discussions there.

After his brother’s visit to the museum where Soo Lin (an unfortunate death) worked, Mycroft became inclined to try more than just the Chinese tea he’d been offered whilst there for previous discussions, _I do get around quite a bit_. His most recent visit to China had him try Dragon Pearl Jasmine, which sounded exotic and had a flowery hint to the perfumed sweetness. It was now apparent why the cups were so small, that tea would become overpowering if he had any more. However, he purchased some Da Hong Pao (most commonly known as Cliff Tea) as it was supposed to be very similar in taste to Lapsang Souchong which he enjoyed as a change to Earl Grey, the smoky flavour was pleasurable. He found this new Chinese tea much the same as Lapsang, but lighter with a far more complex level of smokiness. Chinese tea, _whilst I generalise my opinion_ , was capable of more in-depth flavour than other teas he had had the pleasure of drinking.

His travels had brought him to Germany, although not particularly far to travel, a quick trip (via plane) across the sea. He’d found a tea there much to his liking. East Frisian Tea; and it was served ceremoniously, far closer to home than the tea ceremonies in China though. The tea was steeped for 3 minutes, _of course I counted – attention to detail is key to replication_ , and then a small spoonful of sweetened cream was placed in the middle of the cup and allowed to melt and disperse naturally. This provided the tea with a layered flavour experience. Firstly, the slightly bitter tea, which then melted away into milky taste with the slightly melted cream in the tea, and finally a hint of sweetness at the end of the mouthful. Whilst unaware that it was customary to drink several cups of this tea, Mycroft had enjoyed it enough to return for more a few times over. _A total of 5 times I believe is correct_.

All of these teas which he remembered distinctly and yet his favourite still remained the dependable and friendly Earl Grey which, in his opinion, went with any dish as well as a glass of wine would. The most saddening point to all of his tea tasting, was that his cultured tongue was still expected to bear the exasperating burden of having coffee in his house for certain visitors.


End file.
